An anonymous Slashdot reader has "approximately two terabytes of photos, currently sitting on two 4-terabyte 'Intel Rapid Storage' RAID 1 disks." But now they're
considering three alternatives after moving to a new PC:
a) Keep these exactly as they are... The current configuration is OK, but it's a pain if a RAID re-sync is needed as it takes a long time to check four terabytes.
b) Move to "Storage Spaces". I've not used Storage Spaces before, but reports seem to show it's good... It's a Good Thing that the disks are 100% identical and removable and readable separately. Downside? Unknown territory.
c) Break the RAID, and set up the second disk as a file-copied backup... [This] would lose a (small) amount of resilience, but wouldn't suffer from the RAID-sync issues, ideally a Mac-like "TimeMachine" backup would handle file histories.
Any recommendations?
This is also a good time to share your experiences with Storage Spaces, so leave your answers in the comments. What's the best way to backup large amounts of personal data?
Re:Come the fuck on
By AmiMoJo
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2016-Aug-28 18:37
• Score: 4, Insightful
• Thread
Bad idea, because it requires on-going effort. Most people will forget, or get lazy.
For most people encrypted online backup is the best option. I use Spideroak (I took up the unlimited space special offer, about £100/year), but there are others. It's automatic, happens constantly in background. I've got over 4TB on Spideroak, only took a few months to upload. Obviously you need a reasonable upload speed and no/high data caps.
Re:Come the fuck on
By joe_frisch
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2016-Aug-28 19:38
• Score: 5, Insightful
• Thread
Agreed! The minor changes I would make (and do for my own few TB of files).
Have a script the runs the backup. I use rsync on linux.
Make two copies, one that mirrors, one that just adds files.
Use two backup disks, always have one at a remote location (your work) so you don't lose data in a house fire.
If it is a single command (my is "backup") then its easy to remember to do every week.
I actually have 3 backups. One at home. Two at different work sites that I cycle through. I do my backups from a linux machine that doesn't provide write access to my main windows machines. That makes me a little more resistant to hacks (since they would have to hack two different OSs.
Re:Come the fuck on
By Chelloveck
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2016-Aug-28 20:04
• Score: 5, Insightful
• Thread
What he said. And for ongoing backup, keep the disk at a buddy's house and rsync your files to them periodically. And reciprocate. Keep their backup disk at your place and let them rsync to you. Done. You're safe and you've made the world a better place.
Although I imagine that our "anonymous Slashdot reader" who asked this question wouldn't know rsync if it bit them on the ass, being the marketing person for Storage Spaces and all. Come on, the only purpose of such a fucking obvious question is to get some front-page name recognition for the product. Nice timing, too, slipping it onto the feed Sunday night, ready for everyone's Monday morning Slashdot-and-coffee ritual. Kudos.
Re:Come the fuck on
By mlts
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2016-Aug-28 20:36
• Score: 4, Informative
• Thread
As others have said, 4TB isn't that much. The key is to have a 3-2-1 plan for the data -- 3+ copies, 2 on different media, one offsite:
First, I'd recommend purchasing a NAS appliance. Synology and QNAP offerings are inexpensive and even though one can build their own system with FreeNAS or something else, a small NAS appliance takes up relatively little in wattage, which is nice for the electric bill. I also like the fact that you have the ability to encrypt data, and segment it into shares. Some NAS models even allow for snapshots. They are not too expensive -- an ARM based dual-drive NAS is about $150 + drives.
For four terabytes, I would recommend a Synology DS216+ ii (the reason for the long name is that the DS216+ had components which were discontinued, so the mark 2 edition is current. This NAS model is x86 based and can use btrfs to detect bit rot on the RAID volumes) Then, drop in two WD Reds (6 or 8 TB), and you have RAID 1.
Second, buy an external USB drive to plug to the NAS. RAID and snapshots are nice, but this provides a true backup mechanism.
Third, get an offsite backup mechanism. QNAP and Synology have software that can back up to a number of providers, and back stuff up encrypted. There are many offsite backup providers out there.
Fourth, consider a manual offsite mechanism, even if it is another external hard drive that you plug in, dump the contents of the NAS to, remove, and put offsite somewhere. This way, if you lose your NAS and Net connection, you still have some means to access your data.
Re:RAID is not backup
By dgatwood
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2016-Aug-28 23:10
• Score: 4, Informative
• Thread
The problem with cloud-based solutions is that the cost for backing up several terabytes of data is typically several orders of magnitude higher than building your own RAID array, and the performance of Internet-based backup absolutely sucks beyond measure unless you're the sort of person whose data needs are measured in tens of megabytes.
To back up 2 TB over a typical cable modem (say 3 megabit upload speed) will take you 61 days. Over typical DSL (300 kilobits per second), it will take almost two years.
If you lose your original copy, getting the data back will be almost as painful. On a fairly fast cable modem (30 mbps), assuming the cloud-based backup server can completely saturate your downlink (which is by no means guaranteed), it will take you 6 days of continuous downloading to restore the backup. Over 3 megabit DSL, again, that number goes up to 60 days.
The ideal solution, if you can pull it off, would be to build a small concrete bunker in your yard, run power out to it, put a UPS and power conditioner in there to protect against bad power, put a RAID array in there, wire it with Ethernet to your house underground, put a watertight door on the thing, add a power cutoff that shuts down power if water does get inside (e.g. a GFI breaker and an unused extension cord whose output end is lower than your equipment), and hope for the best.
But more realistically, I would tend to suggest an IOSafe fireproof RAID array loaded up with five 6 TB drives (or maybe even 8 TB drives). Put it in a closet somewhere, and hope for the best. If you want to increase your protection a bit, you could also get two RAID expansion cabinets, store them at work, and periodically bring one home, clone your main RAID array to it, and bring it back